ORLANDO – Ryan Garcia’s legal team has filed a counterclaim against the former two-division champion Devin Haney and his father Bill, issuing multiple denials to Haney’s lawsuit claiming battery, fraud and breach of contract, with Garcia seeking “no less than” $7.5 million in damages.
“The [Haney] complaint is being used for perverted purposes, to coerce Garcia into a rematch, to cause economic harm to Garcia, to harm his reputation, to encourage unwarranted investigations and to obtain media attention” Garcia lawyers Craig Weiner and Reena Jain described as “wholly improper” in the 33-page counterclaim.
By calling Garcia a coward and cheater for not agreeing to a rematch requiring Voluntary Anti Doping Association drug screening after Garcia submitted three positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug Ostarine around a three-knockdown Garcia victory on April 20 that was turned into a no-contest, “[the Haneys] may want to settle personal scores, but their abuse of the judicial process and harassment of Garcia has cost Garcia to the tune of millions of dollars and they must be held accountable,” Garcia’s attorneys wrote in their counterclaim, filed Dec. 4.
Devin Haney attorney Pat English told BoxingScene Sunday that he views Garcia’s counterclaim as “silly” and expects it to get tossed in New York court.
“I don’t believe it meets legal standards. It is so silly in my view it’s ludicrous,” English said.
Among the repeated denials of claims made by Haney, Garcia denies in the counterclaim that he ever took intravenous fluids in advance of the bout, and says the Haneys are not “entitled to any of the relief sought in their prayer for relief.
“Plaintiffs’ claims are barred … because Devin Haney assumed the risk when he participated in the bout against Garcia,” Garcia’s attorneys wrote, detailing that Garcia paid Haney $600,000 for coming in overweight by more than three pounds for the intended WBC 140-pound title fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, adding that Haney received 2% of the net event revenue plus his undisclosed purse money.
Haney has alleged Garcia committed battery, fraud, unjust enrichment and breach of contract upon the former champion from Las Vegas.
The battery claim has led to Haney being ridiculed on social media because of the expected rigors of a boxing match, but Haney attorney English said such a response is “ignorant.”
“Battery is a legal term. I don’t understand why [Haney] should take heat on it,” English said. “Battery means unwanted, forceful touching, and, in this case, it’s backed by a circuit-court case discussing how a fighter taking a PED without the other fighter consenting is battery. It’s settled law, that is the appropriate course of action.”
The counterclaim lawsuit of the Haneys mentions that Devin’s father-trainer-manager, Bill Haney, put a 48-hour deadline on Garcia in October to enroll in VADA and make the rematch.
Later, Bill Haney distributed several posts on “X,” writing, “Ryan, you can’t win a championship belt, so you wrap a waist belt around your arm and shoot Ostarine instead? … You know VADA will expose the truth. … Fans deserve transparency, not excuses.”
Garcia’s attorneys label the Haney lawsuit a “baseless claim,” and seek to have the Haney lawsuit dismissed.
Read the full article here
